Salmon Chowder

One upon a time, I thought my husband was teasing me by telling me to get the Liquid Smoke out of the cabinet for him. Ha ha, I said, you can't fool me...

Mats:
3 Tbsp butter
1 onion, cut into 1cm sized bits
2 stalks of celery, cut into 1 inch bits
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
2 Tbsp flour
4 cups chicken broth
2 carrots, cut into 1 inch bits
2 cups potatoes, cut into 1 inch bits. This is about 1 lb.
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp dried dill
1 lb of salmon, bones and skin removed and cut into bits. You can either use fresh salmon and cut it up or canned salmon.
1 cup whole milk

2 caps Liquid Smoke, because it is a thing.

How-to:

In a medium pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, and garlic and cook for 5 minutes or until the onion is translucent.

Add the flour and stir well to make a roux.

When the flour is making a sticky paste on the veggies, add the chicken broth, carrots, potatoes, pepper and dill.

Cover and boil for 20 minutes.

Turn the heat to low and add the milk, and salmon, stirring well. Heat the soup and keep stirring so the cheese melts.

Add the Liquid Smoke, stir, and serve.

Green Pasta Primavera

Springtime again! Start the season with some fresh veggies

Mats:
1/2cup pine nuts. Also called pignoli nuts
1 Tbsp lemon juice
4 Tbsp olive oil
8 cloves minced
2 medium leeks, sliced
1 lb broccoli raab, chopped into bite sized bits
1 cup peas
8 oz farfalle (bowtie) pasta
1/4c white wine

How-to 
Heat a pot of water to boiling, add the pasta and cook for 10 minutes or until done. When you drain the pasta, save 1/3c of the pasta water.

Heat a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the pine nuts and toast for 5 minutes, stirring often.

Add the toasted pine nuts to a food processor with 2 Tbsp olive oil and 1 Tbsp lemon juice. Blend on high until smooth.

Add the pine nut mixture to the reserved pasta water. Stir so the pine nut mixture is soupy

In a large saucepan, heat 2 Tbsp olive oil over medium heat. Add the crushed garlic and cook for 1 minute, stirring often. The garlic should get nice and browned.

Add the sliced leek and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often.

Add the chopped broccoli raab and white wine, cook for 10 minutes. Stir halfway through

Add the peas and cook for 2 minutes, stirring often.

Turn off the heat, add the cooked pasta and stir so it's combined.

Pour the soupy pine nut mixture over top and mix well.